Alessandra Aloisi
(JHU)
I was born and raised in
Bologna, Italy. From the time I was a child, and
later as a teenager, I wanted to travel and discover
the world. I chose to learn languages in high-school
(a wise decision), and I was willing to become a
flight-attendant to see the world... but my love
for and predisposition to scientific matters led
me on a different path. The great example and encouragement
I received from my female mathematics and physics
teacher convinced me that I could succeed in a scientific
field, even if I was a woman, if I really wanted.
I decided to attend the
University, picking up the first scientific course
I found exotic enough to invest my future in: not
mathematics or physics, but astronomy. I approached
my astronomical studies without a clear idea of
the reasons why, but with the illusion of getting
a philosophical point of view of the universe. I
quickly found out that astronomy means methodology,
objective results and rationality, but without taking
space to creativity and invention. My travel towards
the knowledge of the universe had started, making
true my childhood dream of discovering the unknown.
I received a "laurea"
degree in astronomy in 1994 and a Ph.D. in astronomy
in 1999 from Bologna University. I landed in the
USA, more precisely in Baltimore, immediately afterwards.
I ended up working first as a postdoc at Space Telescope
Science Institute, and later as Associate Research
Scientist at Johns Hopkins University, where I am
currently employed.
Since the beginning of my
astronomical career, I have always been working
on star-forming galaxies both from the theoretical
and observational point of view. I am mostly involved
in the interpretation of their stellar and metal
content, star-formation history and evolution. The
wonderful HST images I have had the fortune of working
with since the beginning of my astronomical journey,
have strengthened the conviction in me that I did
not choose this professional field by chance: the
love for astronomy has always been inside me as
a strong desire to discover knew worlds and understand
the reasons for their existence.
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